It seems that October
has been a month of professional development for yours truly. I've learned so
much and met some amazing people! Networking can seem as scary as the Halloween
decorations in my apartment, but it has opened doors for me that I never knew
existed. The ideas and opportunities I've gained from listening to others has
really inspired me. And networking gets much less frightening after the awkward
introduction phase!
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| Happy Halloween! Scary, right? |
My first major
encounter with networking this semester was at the Public Relations+Social Media Summit hosted by my college earlier this month. I spend about 10
hours sitting in on presentations and panels about the communications industry,
as well as connecting with other students, professors, and professionals during
down time. It was an exhausting but rewarding day, and I'd like to share some
of the top themes I picked out.
- Relationships: as with most of the human race
these days, the marketing and PR world revolves around relationships.
Consumers trust what their friends have to say much more than what a
company representative says, so things like customer service are extremely
important. Want your customers to like you? Make them happy so they'll
tell their friends about their experience. As Paul Rand, president and CEO
of Zocalo Group, said, your brand is what consumers tell each other it is,
not what you tell them it is.
- Interaction: one of the greatest features of
social media is its interactive nature. People don't just take in
information that has been pushed to them; they select the information that
is important to them, review it, share it, even co-create it. Many
speakers talked about the immense opportunity this property of social
media presents, as well as the risks it implies.
- Chaos as a ladder: this may sound like I'm
quoting Game of Thrones, but risk and even crisis can present
ways for companies to truly shine. Going above and beyond the typical
problem solving techniques can turn a company into a thought leader.
Especially with social media, which people use, as Tom Branigan,
CEO of Branigan Communications, said, for both "directed and non-directed time" (for
example, doing something productive like seeking information on a
particular news story vs. killing time by looking through silly hashtags),
risks are everywhere, but so are opportunities to flex your muscles of
awesomeness.
- Community: social media brings people
together. Like the relationship function of PR, social media can
build community around a company through authenticity. This means a
company must be transparent, honest, and ethical when communicating with its publics. People can only gather
around a brand if it is credible and its values are well defined.
- Know why: It’s
not enough for a company to know what it produces or how it goes to
market; it must know why. The
best brands have stories behind them, sets of values that make them unique
and influence every aspect of their business. As social media guru Augie Ray asserted, people don’t buy what you do, but why you do it. Have a purpose
and make it real by living your brand in everything you do.
I could go on and on about the things I
learned at this conference (the presentation about Alterra changing its name to
Colectivo had me at the edge of my seat!), but this post is getting lengthy as
it is. I’ll conclude with something I learned from a conversation that resulted
from the conference, but occurred a few days later.
My amazing networking skills (AKA
dumb luck) connected me with a professional who had worked in China, and he
told me his favorite thing about the conference was the notion of “why”. The
fact that more and more American businesses are being driven by a higher
purpose really impressed him. While many (but not all) companies in China tend to use gimmicks to spark controversy and
debate to gain attention, it seems that the trend in American social media and
marketing communication is going in a more noble direction. That really fires
me up! I’m excited to help bring a good name to this industry.
Talking to new people and experiencing new things can be scary, but it's extremely rewarding. I should get in the Halloween spirit more often!
